Matt Thistlethwaite (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

On the 10th of April this year, the voice of Australian cricket fell silent. Australia lost a legend. The game of cricket lost its greatest ambassador, and our community of Kingsford Smith lost one of its most loved and cherished residents.

Richie Benaud, I think, is amongst two people who are synonymous with Australian cricket: Sir Donald Bradman and Richie Benaud. When you think about Australian cricket, you think of those two individuals. His on-field career speaks for itself: 63 test matches for Australia, 2201 runs for 248 wickets. He captained Australia in 28 tests and, whilst he was the captain of our national team, Australia never lost a test series.

He was known for his aggressive style of captaincy and play, always playing for the win. It was that aggression and approach to the game that saw him involved in—and captaining—the notorious tied test against the West Indies, in 1960. He ambitiously took on trying to win that game. It went down to the last ball and ended up in a tie. He brought a new charisma to the role of captain of the Australian cricket team. He was media-savvy. He understood how to connect with Australians. He brought an allure to that particular role. He really laid the foundations for the reverence that Australians now show for the captain of our national cricket side.

Upon his retirement from cricket, Richie Benaud began a career in journalism. He actually started working for the BBC, in 1956, as a part-time journalist while he was still the captain of the Australian cricket team. At the conclusion of a test series in England he would stay behind and do some work for the BBC. In 1964 he retired from international cricket and took on the role of journalism full-time, initially not working in cricket but eventually coming back to the game that he loved and commentating, both in Britain and Australia.

He was a vehement critic of the actions of the Chappells in the 1981 underarm incident, against New Zealand, and believed that it lowered the tone and standard of the game of cricket. He commentated on 500 test matches throughout his career. It is an achievement that I do not think will ever be matched by any other commentator. Richie was also a very passionate advocate for having cricket broadcast free to air so that all Australians had access to the game that we love over the summer.

Richie Benaud was also involved in many charities. He often worked and volunteered his time to support many charities within not only our local community but also nationally and the world. He was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame in 1985, the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame in 2007 and the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame in 2009. He even won a couple of Logies for his work as a commentator.

For me as a child growing up, there were two hallmarks of summer: one was the beach and the other was cricket in the afternoon. The trusty beige jacket and dulcet tones of Richie Benaud were the symbol of cricket. He really was the voice of Australian cricket. Listening and watching Australian cricket is not the same without hearing the voice of Richie Benaud.

Later in his life, Richie and his wife retired and lived, in our community, in Coogee. They were beloved residents. You would often see Richie walking around the beach and cliffs of Coogee. He would always stop and give time to those who wanted to have a chat about what was going on in cricket or what was going on in the local community. It is quite fitting that Randwick City Council have decided to erect a sporting walk of fame at Coogee Oval and that the first inductee into the Randwick sporting walk of fame will be none other than Richie Benaud, a fitting tribute to his contribution to our community, to Australian cricket and to international cricket generally. I offer my condolences to his family. May he rest in peace.

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